ASHLAND — Ashland Main Street hopes to establish a clear vision for the future of Downtown Ashland by listening to local business and property owners throughout the upcoming year.
On Tuesday morning, Ashland Main Street convened dozens of stakeholders at Substance Church for its first “Downtown Vision” session, in which Jacob Coffy and Sandra Tunnell presented early results from a downtown business survey and shared their intentions for the quarterly meetings.
“We want to improve communications with merchants… We want to foster that community, and we want to be better neighbors,” Tunnell said.
She estimates two-thirds of the Ashland downtown businesses — those located between South and Second Street and Union Street and Claremont Avenue — have already responded to the survey, which was sent out several weeks ago via email. Other businesses within the defined perimeter will be contacted in the coming weeks to fill out the survey.
“I wasn’t (surprised). What I liked was hearing that it’s not just me saying (what we need). It’s actual downtown people who look out their window at 6 at night, and say, ‘this is a concern to me, or this is a concern to my customers,'” Tunnell said. “So it’s a lot easier for me to take it up to the next level.”
According to the early survey results, just shy of 40 percent of respondents prioritized parking as the one major improvement they’d like for Downtown Ashland. As conversation unfolded, it became clear the reasoning behind that concern varied.
Some business owners wondered if the problem could be solved by enforcing the two hour parking in downtown. Others suggested adding meters, a notion that some seemed to dislike.
Others pondered how better signage around the large parking lot along Claremont, positioned right outside of the defined “downtown,” would improve their parking problem. Lighting too could increase the lot’s usage, especially in the evening.
The solution won’t be simple, one business owner said, requesting an “in-depth conversation” could be held on parking.
More than 30 percent listed improved streetscapes and storefronts as their priority. Other categories included signage and way finding, maintenance and safety.
The existing businesses
The survey results showed 53 percent of current Downtown Ashland businesses are service-related. Twenty-seven percent identified as retail, and 20 percent listed their purpose as food and entertainment.
Fittingly, the lowest type of existing business is what current business owners want to see come to downtown. In an open-ended question, 96 percent of respondents expressed a desire to see more food options in Downtown Ashland.
Businesses vary in age. The results showed 28 percent of businesses have been in Downtown Ashland for five to ten years, and a close 27 percent have been there for 20 or more years.
Only 10 percent had been in downtown for less than one year, 22 percent for five to ten years and 13 percent for 10 to 20 years.
Further, the businesses are generally seeing an increased revenue between 2018 and 2019. Fifty-three percent reported increased in revenue, and 33 percent estimated their revenue remained similar to last year’s. Only five percent of survey respondents noted decreased revenue.
“This is one of my personal favorite statistics to see,” Coffy said.
Existing businesses bring in a conservative estimate of 350 to downtown daily. Already 300 have been reported by survey respondents. An additional 50 were estimated by Ashland Main Street.
The total daily customer count in Ashland comes in currently at 880. This does not account for the notion that someone might shop at Fig and Oak’s gift shop and pick up a coffee at the Downtown Perk within the same visit.
Customer feedback is also expected to be collected and offer additional insight for the “Downtown Vision” sessions.
